


cherry wine

by xervos



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 09:51:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14850519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xervos/pseuds/xervos
Summary: Dawn and dusk reminds Jake of a certain someone.





	cherry wine

Jake opens his eyes to warm orange light. Dusk or dawn, he cannot discern in his waking times. He lifts his hands, expecting a resistance of some sort, before realising the air before him is empty.

Dust hangs in the air as he fully rouses, blankets rustling and the quiet sound of his sigh filling the empty room.

He feels light, insubstantial. He has the vague recollection of a wry, shy smile with a charming face to go with it on his chest and strong arms across his torso.

He looks around. Piles and piles of papers fill the space. Shelves are filled to the brim with books, more of it strewn across the apartment. The TV has long been discarded; the news came everyday with the quietly sunny girl that lives downstairs. He pads across the floor, unable to decide whether it’s cold or not.

He passes the big bedroom; untouched and dusty from years of misuse. Sheets still pristinely folded, as he himself liked. The duvet and blanket were strewn around carelessly, though, in their worn but clean state in their favourite colours, green for him, orange for Dirk.

He takes a glance at his ring. A simple silver band that they mutually agreed need not any embellishment. On the inside however, are engravings of flowers and vines, looping to a scripted, _Forever_. The pang in his chest reminds him that the holder of its complement has long been gone, taking forever with him.

It’s been a while since he’s felt this way, empty. He stops when he reaches the centre of the living room, surrounded by the light. A reminder, he thinks as he raises his hands. Then stops on impulse. No, muscle memory.

As if there were some invisible music, he starts dancing slow with small steps. Some old, vague song that Dirk was tapping along to as he cooked, before. The man who barely even cracked around others, enjoying music, would you look at that. Jake pulled him along, despite dinner still cooking, and he smiled goofily into those orange eyes.

(Those eyes smiled back.)

They stumbled clumsily into the living room, but Jake kept dancing despite Dirk’s protesting. After a while though, they managed to keep upright, and held each other properly as the song reached the chorus. Dirk was smiling, no longer the small, content smile that was on earlier, but fully grinning with teeth out, and joy flickering in his eyes. Jake had to pause for a bit, mouth agape for a moment until Dirk asked if he was alright. Jake stared at him before realising that he had to answer and preened.

_Of course I’m alright, Strider. I’m with you!_

Oh the glory of seeing the pale flesh of his neck flush even redder than Dave’s god pyjamas. Dirk turned away, and his mouth was trying not to split itself open from holding down his smile. Jake laughed and twirled them around just before the song’s final notes. Dirk went back into the kitchen, after, and Jake made the table. 

And just like that the song ended. 

He dropped his arms, and stood until the shadows changed, staring at nothing. At the empty space where his husband should be. 

Where Dirk should be. 

(Jake finds, later, that it was dawn. An hour after another failed attempt to make breakfast, the girl from downstairs came to deliver the news as usual. Apparently, oranges were flourishing more than ever, and the factory’s selling their orange soda for dirt cheap. Jake listens to this with quiet amusement and pangs of disappointment.) 

**Author's Note:**

> [ _The way she shows me I'm hers and she is mine_ ](https://open.spotify.com/track/1ivHxaGL5ld9VS1zsYc4YN?si=oTmFCYHURdSv7grwLMyHvg)   
>  [ _Open hand or closed fist would be fine_ ](https://open.spotify.com/track/1ivHxaGL5ld9VS1zsYc4YN?si=oTmFCYHURdSv7grwLMyHvg)   
>  [ _The blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine._ ](https://open.spotify.com/track/1ivHxaGL5ld9VS1zsYc4YN?si=oTmFCYHURdSv7grwLMyHvg)
> 
> you can find me [here](https://xervos.tumblr.com) or [here](https://xevwrites.tumblr.com)


End file.
